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  • Still Life

  • Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
  • By: Louise Penny
  • Narrated by: Adam Sims
  • Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (194 ratings)

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Still Life cover art

Still Life

By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Adam Sims
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Publisher's Summary

The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships. Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines - a place so free from crime it doesn't even have its own police force. But Gamache knows that evil is lurking somewhere behind the white picket fences and that, if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will start to give up its dark secrets....

Coming soon: Book 2 in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, Dead Cold. Winter in Three Pines, and the sleepy village is carpeted in snow. It's a time of peace and goodwill - until a scream pierces the biting air. A spectator at the annual Boxing Day curling match has been fatally electrocuted. Despite the large crowd, there are no witnesses and - apparently - no clues.

©2005 Louise Penny (P)2006 Isis Publishing Ltd

What listeners say about Still Life

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent

Enthralled from the very first chapter. Am now a fan of Gamache. Book 2 awaits, I am so excited.

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Quirky writing but keeps you thinking..

Took a bit to get into the story but once I did it was entertaining. A bit "off the wall" but I'm now looking forward to the second in the series.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Travel

2020 no travel, no exploring and unearthing adventures- what to do...

Loved the descriptions, the scene setting, the smells and the sounds. Being transported to this tiny village in Canada. Storyline different and compelling unlike the English mysteries I am normally drawn too.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very enjoyable

This is a great listen. It's a lovely glimpse into a lovely part of the world, filled with a mix you interesting and real people.
Easy to follow and enjoy, well written and fabulously told.
Great bedtime reading.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Different, quirky

The plot was a pleasant departure from the norm. Though it started well, slow but steady, I felt towards the end the story got away from the author and we were left with some long winded explanations in order for the reader to believe what was happening.

I’m not interested in book2.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable character-driven murder-mystery!

Jane Neal is thrilled that her first submitted artwork has been accepted by the local arts group in the small Québécois village of Three Pines. When her body is found in the woods, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team of Sûreté are puzzled why anyone would harm such a sweet old lady. This highly character-driven murder-mystery introduces Gamache and some members of his team, but mostly focuses on the vast cast of villagers and the large and small problems any murder investigation uncovers. It’s worth getting to know these villagers since most of the 16 books in the series are based in Three Pines with Gamache and his regional team visiting as needed. The tone here is mostly gentile with the murder adding melancholic notes. Listening to the audiobook I struggled with the large cast, but enjoyed Gamache’s style and village life so I’ll definitely return to this series. Audio narrator Adam Sims does great justice to the English and French accents and the characters.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Ok, has potential

Ok, has potential, going to give the other books a go. I did like the narrator

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Will continue with this series

I’ll start this review by apologising to any Canadians out there. I always thought I knew a bit about Canada and its history and way of life and peoples but after reading Still Life, this is obviously not the case. I didn’t realise the French sections of the country were so dominant and determined to stay French, for starters. I kind of just assumed everyone spoke English with some older sections speaking French on the side. I feel dumb. I also didn’t think about the US War of Independence affecting Canada and the people that fled there during that campaign. Again, seems rather obvious now and makes me again, feel stupid. So, thanks Louise Penny for making me feel like an ignorant Antipodean.

Still Life introduces us to Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache. He’s a lovely character, despite the fact he often takes too much of a back seat in this book for my liking. Like many other mystery books I’ve read of late, Penny focuses more on the townsfolk where the murder took place. Using this small town setting successfully narrows down the suspect pool to the people who live there but perversely widens the suspect pool to everyone who lives there. Great fun. It also creates that dimension of isolation which is always an added bonus in mysteries.

Unfortunately, as I said, focusing on the plethora of suspects, potential victims and witnesses means I didn’t get to know Gamache and his team as much as I would have liked. I felt like I knew nothing about JeanGuy Beauvoir, Gamache’s second in command, for example, at the end the book.
In fact, the only detective Penny did focus on other than Gamache was rookie Yvette Nichol and I must admit, her part in the story made little sense apart from giving us a few clues when it came to the personality of the murderer and one of the continuing themes running through the book of the evilness of narcissism and arrogance.

Some of the townsfolk were a little cliched but overall fun. I did guess the murderer but I wasn’t completely sure about the details.

The method the murderer uses to kill their victim is unique and I really enjoyed the mystery regarding the actual mechanics of the murder as much as the whodunnit mystery.

The title of the book is perfect. Just because a victim is heading towards the end of their life -- it’s still life. One of the main clues in the book is a painting -- a still life. The style of the painting is one which only includes people from real life -- a still life. And there are various characters thinking/in denial about their personalities and quality of life and their ability to change and go forwards with their lives; they’ve stopped or are blind/have become stationary -- a still life.

I did listen to this via Audible and it took me a little while to warm to the narrator but once I did, I was hooked and found myself really enjoying the audiobook version. I have been searching for a nice long series to listen to as I commute and this might tick all the boxes.

4 out of 5

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful character development

The character development and beautifully eloquent descriptions made this book fabulous. So gentle, yet such powerful imagery.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it except for fat phobia

Really enjoyed the characters & a murder mystery with graphic violence. So many negative references about people in bigger bodies, which adds up to more than the views of a few of the characters. Disappointing.

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